The Box
by DaniiWeasley7
Summary: Oneshot! Bella finds a mysterious box in her attic. When the contents of that box are revealed, she finds herself looking for the brother she never knew. Will she find him? What will his reaction be? Read and Review. Cannon Pairings. AU/AH


**Hello readers. This is a one-shot that thought of when I was planning for my practise NAPLAN Writing test. It is a test that Australian's have to do in years 3, 5, 7 and 9 so the Government knows how smart we are. The practise topic was 'The Box'.**

**Anyway, I planned this story with original characters and was like 'I could write a Twilight fan fiction with this', and so I did. Unfortunately it took long to write. I wanted to get this out for my birthday as a birthday present to myself, but life got in the way. (P.S. my birthday was the 29****th**** May)**

**This story is dedicated to my friend Maddy, for letting my use her name in the original plan and rolling her eyes at me when she found out I was going to write it as a fan fiction.**

**Um also take note that I am from Australia and know nothing about America Geography, so I sort of randomly chose a state and city, then used Wikipedia. So I hope it is all correct.**

**DISCLAIMER: S.M owns these characters; I own nothing but the storyline.**

**The Box**

**Bella Pov**

All my life, I knew I was different, from the outside you wouldn't see it, but it was always there, pulling in the strings of my heart.

I grew up as Bella Swan, daughter of Renée and Charlie Swan. I looked like my parents, I had Charlie's brown eyes and Renée's brown hair, but I was always to pale. My parents could tan very easily, although you would never think it. We lived in Forks, Washington, a place where it rained 99.9% of the time. I grew up happy, ignorant, until the fateful day then I was eight years old.

_Flashback:_

_My mum and I were cleaning out the attic, some spring-cleaning phase she was going through. My mum was always scatterbrained, coming up with new ideas to spice up our lives. I had resisted as much as I could but I found myself in that attic anyway, in old clothes and a dust cloth._

_Half way through I had found this box marked 'Bella Baby'; of course it had my name on it so I was_ _immediately curious. I was going to open the box when my mum called me to help her; I left with one fleeting glance at the mystery box._

_Flashback ended._

I went back to search for the box a week later, but it was gone. I continued on in my life, but in the back of my mind, I always wondered why it had disappeared. But now, a week after my parent's funeral, I found myself back in that attic. I wasn't searching for it, but I found it, behind my old cot and the rocking chair that use to be in my room. It had a thick layer of dust, I carefully wiped it off and with shaky hands, I opened it. Inside was a certificate of adoption. I stared at it. I wasn't Charlie and Renée's biological child? It sort of made sense. I was really pale, whereas my parents could tan easily. I acted differently, I was clumsy. It all added up, I was adopted. But who were my parents? Why was I adopted and not with them, I knew that if I go through this box I'll have answers.

The next thing in the box was a birth certificate. Mine I realised as I looked at the name. My birth date was the same, September 13, 1991, but my name stated Isabella Marie McCarty. That must have been my real name. The certificate said I was born in Franklin Tennessee to George and Monica McCarty. It also stated that I had a twin brother Emmett Dale McCarty, who was two minutes older than me. I tried to visualise what they looked like, but I couldn't.

In the box there was also a picture and a ragged brown teddy bear. I picked it up, it smelt of wood and grass with a hint of tobacco. I knew that smell from somewhere, but I couldn't place where. The picture was of a baby boy and girl- recognisable from the pink and blue blankets that they were wrapped in. The boy was bigger than the girl- the girl who looked like me. That must have meant the boy was my brother- Emmett. I had to find him. I put everything back into the box and got into the car. I was going to get answers, from the person I know will have the answers- my dad's best friend Billy Black.

I arrived at the small red house in La Push and knocked on the door. Billy, in his wheelchair opened the door. I looked at the man I called my second father- well third now I guess. He smiled when he saw me, but then his smile froze when he saw the box in my hands.

"It's best if I explain inside Bella." Billy said and led me into the familiar small, cosy, living room that my best friend Jake and I would always hang out watching movies in.

I sat down on the couch; Billy sat in front of me. I placed the box in front of us. There was a silence until Billy sighed.

"I hoped Charlie and Renée would tell you this. I don't know much about your birth parents, but I know why you were adopted." I nodded my head and Billy sighed again.

"As you know, Charlie and Renée got married right out of high school. They tried to have a child but they weren't compatible, so they listed themselves to adopt. A year later, they got a call from Franklin Orphanage. They just got a set of twins; their parents died in a car crash." I closed my eyes as a tear fell down my cheek, my birthparents didn't want to leave me.

"Charlie and Renée flew over there straight away, but when they reached there, they were told they could only adopt one of you. They chose you because they really wanted a girl. They kept trying to find your brother but found out he had been adopted. Charlie wanted to tell you when you were eighteen, but Renée refused. She didn't want to lose you."

I looked down. I was slightly angry, how could my parents keep this from me? I grew up without my twin brother, my other half. I cried for my unknown parents while Billy awkwardly patted my back. After some time I came to a realisation. I had to find my brother.

I left Billy's that night and picked up my laptop. I typed in Emmett McCarty into Google. Nothing. I typed in Franklin Orphanage. I got the address. I called the airline for a flight there in the morning. I packed little clothes and the contents of the box. I was going to track down Emmett McCarty; I was going to find my family.

I arrived in Franklin in the afternoon. It was pretty hot weather in comparison to Forks. I followed the address and found a small old house with a worn out 'Franklin Orphanage' on the front. I walked up to the door, took a deep breath and knocked. I waited, and waited for a long time. Was there someone here or was it abandoned?

Finally I heard shuffling on the other side of the door. The door opened a fraction and I saw an old lady with grey hair and grey eyes. She looked vaguely familiar to me, then I realised that maybe she was here when I was here.

"Hi, my name is Bella McCarty; I was adopted here eighteen years ago. I was wondering if you can tell me anything about my brother Emmett McCarty." The woman stared at me in shock; she thought that I'd never be back here.

She reluctantly opened the door for me to come in. I saw a couple of little kids run around and I wondered if Emmett and I were that playful when we were here.

There was an awkward silence when we reached a small old reception desk. There was a nametag on it, it read Mercy Grey. The old lady sat down.

"I knew that day would haunt us." She said quietly, I doubted that she even wanted me to hear.

"Can you tell me who adopted my brother?" I asked her. She sighed again.

"My name is Mercy; I was here when you and your brother were brought in. You two were so cute, just one year old. But you see, it was a time when many people wanted to adopt children, so we were told to limit parents to one child. We were lucky that you and Emmett were the only siblings. It was hard to split you up. You cried all the way to the car and Emmett didn't stop bawling for days. Two days later, another couple came and adopted Emmett. A young doctor and his wife. They wanted to find you too, but you were already with your parents." She finished and if I felt tears in my eyes.

"Can you give me any information on the couple?" I asked. She nodded her head.

"The doctor's name was Carlisle Cullen and his wife Esme Cullen. Unfortunately, they have moved over the years so I don't have an exact address, but Dr Cullen recently won an award and it is known that they are living in L.A, I think they live in Pasadena. That is all I know." she said and I sighed in relief.

"Thank you for your help." I said and I started to get up. Mercy quickly grabbed my arm.

"I'm sorry for not being of more help and being the reason for this." She said. I smiled.

"It's alright. No one's perfect." I said and with a last fleeting smile I walked out the door.

The first thing I did as I got into my car was call the airlines. I got the next flight to Pasadena. I drove to the airport and saw that my flight was in an hour. When I was on the plane, I looked up Carlisle Cullen and got his address. It turns out that Carlisle has saved many lives; he also has four kids, Emmett, another adopted girl Alice their biological son Edward and his wife's niece and nephew that they adopted after their parents died. Rosalie and Jasper, I believe their names are.

The plane landed at Bob Hope Airport. When I got out of the terminal and hired a car, I put the Cullen's address into the GPS. I was soon making my way through the streets of Pasadena.

The GPS told me to turn into a long driveway. In view was a huge house. It was a white, Victorian type house with three stories, surrounded by lavish green gardens and flowers. It was gorgeous.

Suddenly I was hit with nerves. What if Emmett didn't want to know me, I mean was he even told? What if he was and he didn't want to look for me. I suddenly had the urge to turn the car around.

_NO, you came so far. Don't give up!_

Listening to my inner voice, I got out of the car and headed up the steps to the veranda. I stood at the door and took a deep breath.

_Come on, you can do this Bella!_

I rang the doorbell and waited, oh god, what if they weren't home? My fears were answered when I heard shuffling on the other side of the door. It opened to a beautiful woman with caramel coloured hair that fell into waves and soft green eyes. She looked to be in her middle to late 30's.

"Hello, how may I help you?" she asked, her voice full of motherly love.

"Um, hi, uh... I'm looking for Emmett Cullen." I said, my voice breaking. _Great impression I'm making. I must look like a freak._

"And who are you dear?" she asked kindly. I sighed, here comes the hard bit.

"My name is Bella McCarty, ma'am, I believe that Emmett is my twin brother."

The look on her face was priceless. Shock, love and awe. After her moment of shock she invited me in. She then called out "Carlisle, Kids" and there was shuffling from upstairs. Soon people came down the stairs. First was a blond male, who stood next to the caramel haired woman, who I think is Mrs Cullen, making him Dr Cullen, then a small, black haired pixie like girl, followed by a tall blond haired male. Behind them a god like bronze haired male. After a few seconds after he stood next to his family did two other people come. First was a blond haired female, who looked like a supermodel in any mans fantasy and a big burly brunette male. I gasped in shock. There was no doubt that this man was Emmett, the resemblance between us was unmistakable. He had huge muscles, probably one of the only differences between us. He had brown eyes, my brown eyes and curly brown hair like mine, just shorter. He locked eyes with me and they held confusion and love. Did he know? The pair reached the bottom of the stairs and the bronze haired male spoke up.

"What's going on mum?" he asked, looking with confusion between Emmett and I.

"Children, this is Bella McCarty. Bella, I am Esme, this is my husband Carlisle," she pointed to the blond male beside her who smiled warmly at me, "and my children, Edward," the bronze haired god nodded at me, "Alice," the pixie smiled and waved, "Jasper," the other blond male nodded, "Rosalie" the blond female glared, what's her problem? "And Emmett." Emmett didn't do anything, he just stared.

"Hi," I said shyly. Rosalie, I think her name was glared some more, then spoke.

"What are you doing here? I thought you didn't want to see us." What she sneered confused me. What did she mean, not want to see them. I didn't even know they existed until a day ago.

"I'm confused, what do you mean not want to see you?" I said aloud. Shock filled Blondie and Emmett's face.

"I'm sure that all can be explained, why don't we move to the living room?" Esme suggested. We walked into a beautifully furnished living room, with white couches. Esme motioned for me to sit down. I sat down opposite Esme, Carlisle, Emmett and Rosalie, while Edward, Jasper and Alice sat on another couch.

"Children," Carlisle started, "as you know, after your mother and I had Edward, we soon found out we could not have any more kids of our own. We were quite distraught, but found alternatives in adopting. That led us to all of you. What you do not know is that Bella," he motioned to me, "is Emmett's twin sister."

A gasp came from Edward, Alice and Jasper, however Rosalie glared more and Emmett nodded.

"Bella," Esme started, "why don't you tell us your story?" I looked self consciously around the room and took a deep breath when I saw Esme and Carlisle's encouraging looks.

"I grew up in Fork's a small town in Washington, my parent's name were Charlie and Renée Swan. All my life I thought I was Bella Swan, until two days ago." There was a gasp from in front of me, but I continued my story.

"But I guess it all started when I was eight years old, while my mum and I were cleaning the attic, I came upon this box." I pulled the box out of my messenger bag and laid it on the coffee table in front of me. "Before I was able to open it, my mum called me, I tried to find the box again but never could." I sighed, this was getting hard now.

"My parents died two weeks ago," a gasp came around the room and I forced my tears not to fall. The pain inside me was too raw. "Their death left me everything, so a week after the funeral, I cleaned out the attic and I came across the box again and I found these." I opened the box and removed the bear, the photo, my birth certificate and the adoption certificate for the Cullen's to see.

"It didn't really make sense and so I went to my dad's friends place so he could explain. He told me that my biological parents died in a car crash. I then went to Franklin Orphanage so I could get information on Emmett. A lady there helped me and here I am." I looked around and the Cullen's were shocked. I didn't really understand it. Emmett broke the silence.

"We tried looking for you too, but they said you didn't want to see us, that you didn't care about me." He said, pain evident in his voice.

"But I didn't even know I was adopted until two days ago." I protested. When did he look for me? How was I not notified? Esme then spoke.

"We told Emmett that he was adopted when he was eight, although he didn't know he had a sibling, we didn't even know until Emmett sixteen, when he wanted to know more about his parents. We went to Franklin Orphanage to find out that he had a twin sister. We got your address and phone number and when we rang, the lady said that you were told you were adopted and had a twin, but you were not interested in meeting him. We tried calling again every month, each year, but we were told the same answer by the same woman. By the end she said that we had to stop calling or she would put a restraining order on us." I gasped in horror and then it suddenly all made sense. The reason the box went 'missing' after I found it, the fights between my parents, me not knowing that I was adopted, Renée's tight grip on everything I do.

"I'm sorry, but what my mum said wasn't true, I think she was scared of losing me." I said and started to sob. I put my head in my hands to hide my face. They were removed by big warm hands and I looked into Emmett's tear sained brown eyes. He was on his knees in front of me. I hugged him with all the force I could manage and we cried together. I was happy, I found my brother, my long lost twin brother. I found new home and a new family when I no longer had one.

And it was all thanks to a small dusty box.

The box.

**Well, that is my first oneshot. Please review and tell me what you think. Now that I am on holidays, I will try to update more.**

**Until then,**

**D.**


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